Conventional dynamoelectric machines, such as generators used with gas and steam turbines, employ a rotor or a field into which rotor slots are machined. In a field coil winding assembly, the rotor slots receive conductive turns of field windings made of stacks of copper coils which are interconnected as to produce a desired magnetic flux pattern. The copper coils are stacked between slot cell insulation in the rotor slots. A wedge is used at the open end of the rotor slot to hold the stack of copper coils in place. In the field coil winding assembly, a turn insulation system consisting of turn insulation and adhesive are used between copper coils to provide both mechanical and electrical separations of the copper coils. An adhesive is placed on one side of a copper coil or turn insulation and the turn insulation is attached to the copper coil using the adhesive. The copper coils and turn insulation system may have registered ventilation openings or radial ducts that are aligned allowing cooling gas, for example air or hydrogen, to flow through the stacks of copper coils.
Significant thermal, mechanical, and other stresses are exerted on slot winding insulations and turn insulation systems even though ventilation paths may be imbedded within and through the copper coils. Temperatures of up to 155° C. are possible in some generators. Centrifugal compressive forces may be as high as 12,000 psi for a 60 Hz electric machine whose rotor spins at 3600 rpm. Thermal and mechanical stresses may induce degradation of turn insulation systems. It may weaken certain locales of turn insulation systems where morphological defects and air pockets may be present. Subsequently, it may cause turn shorts between the copper coils whose appearance is seemingly caused by an electrical breakdown of the turn insulation system. The presence of an electric field across the turn insulation may aggravate the risk of turn shorts, but the effect is minimal as the field strength across the turn insulation system is no more than 100V/mil, and more particularly, the field is no more than 70V/mil for some hydrogen cooled generators. Furthermore, radial vibration of the copper coils of a few microns may be caused by turn shorts, induced field sensitivity, imbalanced inductance, and thermal expansion. In addition, axial movement of the turn insulation, a migration of the turn insulation due to the loss of adhesion between the turn insulation and the copper coils, may induce blockage of the radial ducts causing thermal stress degradation resulting in a negative feedback cycle.
Turn shorts and turn insulation migration may be of concern for generators which may be associated with gradual loss of the adhesion as well as inadequate thermal resistance of the turn insulation system. Loss of the adhesion may be due to manufacturing and/or the type of adhesive chemistry and/or aging. The adhesion capability may be inversely proportional to the thermal capability of the adhesive. The adhesive chemistry limits the choice of adhesive for turn insulation user in large dynamoelectric machines of several hundred megawatts. Further, the adhesive chemistry is not conducive to the environment where the thermal stress is dominant. In addition, there is no rapid, controlled, and affordable manufacturing method that enhances the mechanical integrity of field coil winding assemblies with a robust feature of reduced risks of turn shorts and turn migration. Blasting each coil to form a controlled and desirable surface profile is laborious and costly. Forming a copper oxide layer in room temperature or hot air may be time and space-consuming, possibly inhomogeneous, and impractical. Putting a copper adhesion promoter in the adhesive has been costly and its effect on uniformity is not guaranteed.